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Beijing orders action on meningitis

BEIJING — The Chinese government has issued emergency orders in seeking to contain an outbreak of meningitis that has killed 16 people and infected an additional 258, the state news media reported on Tuesday.

"There is no need to panic," said People's Daily, the Communist Party newspaper.

Since the disease began to spread in December, all regions of China except Tibet, Hainan and Fujian have reported infections, according to newspapers and government radio. They said the first cases had been reported in a group of eastern provinces.

"The Health Ministry has issued an emergency order demanding a strengthening of meningitis prevention and control work," China National Radio said on its Web site.

According to the ministry's Web site, the local authorities were ordered to report and hospitalize meningitis cases promptly, provide vaccines for children under 15 in affected areas and, if an epidemic develops, be ready to close schools and disinfect public places.

The unusually prompt, sweeping orders reflect the government's new sensitivity to public health threats after the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS. It began in southern China and killed 349 people on the mainland and more than 800 worldwide. Beijing was sharply criticized for its slow response to SARS and to foreign appeals for information and cooperation. After that outbreak, the government promised to create a nationwide disease-warning network and facilities to react quickly to potential health threats.

Meningitis is an infection of the fluid in the spinal cord or around the brain, usually caused by a viral or bacterial infection. Symptoms include high fever, headaches, nausea and vomiting. It spreads through contact with an infected person's respiratory or throat secretions, but is not as contagious as a cold or flu.

The Health Ministry, without giving a death toll, said 546 cases of meningitis were reported in China from November through January.

The worst affected provinces are Anhui, Henan, Hebei, Jiangsu and Sichuan. In Anhui, 62 cases have been reported, among them at least 6 deaths, including 5 schoolchildren.

In Hong Kong, health officials said on Monday that they were trying to get information about the outbreak.

"It seems to be serious because there are a number of fatalities," said Hong Kong's health secretary, York Chow. "We want to know whether this is something that has been endemic for some time, whether this is a new strain."

The death rate from meningitis can be as high as 10 percent to 15 percent. Worldwide, about 171,000 people die of it each year, according to the World Health Organization.